Wii Warm Up: Using parental controls
A recent study questioned the efficacy of parental controls on a number of electronic devices, including game consoles, and the whole thing just makes us sigh a little whilst shaking our heads. Not long ago, we test drove the parental controls features on the Wii and found them shockingly easy. While the study, which featured a very small sample and a variety of electronics, isn't exactly a concrete reason to state that parental controls don't work because they aren't used or understood, it does raise some interesting questions. We thought we would turn to you guys who are parents -- or who have 'em in your house, making rules -- for some answers. Do you use the parental controls features? Is it just on the Wii, or also on other systems? If you use multiple systems or devices, how does the Wii stack up when it comes to ease of use?
We understand that a lot of parents just don't get video game systems, or various other devices popular with their children. While we can't understand why those parents don't take steps to remedy the situation, we do understand that it happens. We grant it. In light of that, beyond censorship, youthening content, or other solutions that might affect what we adults get to play, can you think of better solutions for protecting kids? Obviously, we think the answer is being involved and knowing what's going on in the games parents allow their children to play, but we know that not everyone agrees.
